Fri, Mar 31st - 5:54AM
Don’t Be A Scrooge Proverbs 3:31 March 31
Envy not the oppressor and do not choose any of his ways.
The Book of Proverbs is a book of wise sayings. Solomon tells us the
purpose of the book and the benefits that are ours in the fisrt couple of
verses in the book. Solomon writes that we are to “know wisdom and
instruction to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the
instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment and equity.” Solomon goes on to
say that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools
despise wisdom and instruction.”
In our test today, Solomon tells us to “envy not the oppressor and do
not choose any of his ways.” How you and I live our lives is so
important. We all look up to people and we want to be like them in varying
degrees. Perhaps we look to our parents and want to be like them. Some of
us look to key people in our lives and want to be more like them. This
is not bad. God has no doubt placed people in our lives so that we could
benefit from the relationships that He has give to us in them.
However, there are those that we are not to pattern our lives after and
it really does not take a rocket scientist to know who those people
are. Solomon tells us not to envy the oppressor. Who would fall into that
category? Lets look at the context from which we take this verse.
Solomon tells us in verse 27, “do not withhold good from those to whom it is
due when it is in your power to do it.” He then gives us a couple
examples of what he is talking about.
An oppressor could certainly be someone who holds back the good things
from those that they are due. It is easy to look at life from our own
selfish point of view; however, life as God designed it has more to do
with what we give away as opposed to what we get. The more that we learn
to give of ourselves the richer and fuller our lives actually become!
Consider the following statements. When we stand before God on that
great day, He won’t ask what kind of car we drove, but He might ask how
many people we drove that did not have a car.
God is not likely to ask how big our house was but He might ask how
many people we welcomed into our home.
God is not likely to ask us how many clothes we had in our closets but
rather how many people we helped cloth.
God will not ask how many friends we had but rather how many people we
were friends to.
God will not ask you what neighborhood you lived is but He may well ask
how you treated your neighbors.
God is not likely to ask you about that check you wrote to help someone
in need but rather he might ask you about the balance in your checking
account after you wrote that check.
God has give His all for you and me and He has so much more that He
wants to give us. How we live our lives and how we make decisions has so
much to do with how God is able to do what He wants to do for us and
with us. Listen to the wisdom and instruction of Solomon’s words as he
says, “envy not the oppressor and choose not any of his ways. Do not be a
scrooge with your life!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Thu, Mar 30th - 9:31AM
I Must Decrease John 3:30 March 30
He must increase and I must decrease.
John has been baptizing people, calling for them to repent for the
kingdom of God was at hand. John knew that the Messiah had been born and
that things were about to change. The religious leaders got with some of
John’s disciples and questioned Jesus’ actions. John had already
baptized Jesus and identified Him as the Lamb of God.
John responds to the questions of his disciples. John reminded his
disciples that he was not the Messiah or the Christ. His joy and purpose
was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. John’s comment was
that “He must increase and I must decrease.”
John understood something that we need to understand today. John went
on to tell his disciples, “He that comes from above is above all; He who
comes from heaven is above all. The Father loves the Son and has given
all things unto the Son. He who believes on the Son has everlasting
life and he who does not believe the Son, does not have life but the wrath
of God abides on him.”
You and I must remember that in our lives, He must increase and we must
decrease. We must place our faith in Him. We must begin to crucify that
old nature that is in us that wants to rule our lives. for God has
given the Words of Life to His Son and the words that He has given to Him
are what give us life as we surrender our lives to them.
As you and I decrease and allow Him to increase in our lives, He is
able to give us life. Jesus told His disciples, “I am come that you might
have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” He is able to
give us that life as we allow Him to increase in our hearts and our
control of our lives decreases. As we begin to make decisions that reflect
His grace and mercy in our lives in the decisions that we make, He is
able to do for us as He so much wants to do.
It does not matter what we think or what we do; the thing that the Lord
is looking for in your life and mine is the desire and the
determination to decrease allowing Him to increase in our lives one decision at a
time. When He is able to increase and we decrease, He becomes
responsible for our lives and that my friend is the best possible place that you
can I can be in period!
As you make decisions today, remember John the Baptist’s words, “He
must increase and I must decrease.”
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Wed, Mar 29th - 9:25AM
No Other God Can Do This! Daniel 3:29 March 29
Therefore I make a decree that every people, every nation and every
language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shardach, Meeshach
and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a
dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Three Hebrew children
were set up if you will because of their faith in God. A decree was
issued that at the sound of instruments, everyone was to bow down and
worship an image of the king that had been erected in a courtyard. The
whole purpose of this decree was to get the three Hebrew children.
When the three were in the courtyard, the instruments sounded and
everyone fell to their knees except the three and immediately runners went
to the king to tell him of their refusal to worship his image. The three
Hebrew children were brought before Nebuchadnezzar and he offered to
let them bow down before him in private. They refused and as result, they
were cast into the fiery furnace. However, that was not the end of the
story!
The three men were cast into the fire but they were not alone there.
The king looked in to the midst of the fire and saw not three men but
four men walking in the midst of the flames and the fourth man looked like
the Son of God! When the three men came out of the furnace, their
clothes were not burned nor was there a singed hair on their heads and there
was not even a hint of smoke on their clothes.
Nebuchadnezzar took Shadrach, Meeshach and Abednego and blessed them
for their faith in their God. He then issued another decree that made it
a crime punishable by death to speak against the God of these three men
for “there is no other God that can deliver after this sort!”
This is the kind of testimony that the world needs to see today. The
reason that the world is not seeing this kind of testimony is simple; we
are not demonstrating the kind of faith that these three men
demonstrated with their lives. The men declared to the king in the face of
impending death; “We will not bow down for our God will deliver us. But… if
even if He doesn’t, we will not bow down and worship the image that you
have set up.”
These men decided that they would rather burn than bow. They were not
willing to worship any other God than their God no matter what the
consequences. Today we live in a world of convenience and ease at any cost.
We do not want to offend anyone with our convictions. In fact, our
convictions are becoming less and less. I always heard that a person who
will not stand for something will fall for anything. Our churches are
faltering and our families are failing because we are not standing for the
Lord and His Word for our lives.
It is time that we started standing up and stepping out in front of a
world that is becoming more and more hostile to the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ so that God can continue doing in our lives what HE did for
these three so that the rest of the world can see that there is no
other God that can do this sort!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Tue, Mar 28th - 8:08AM
Union or Unity
Union or Unity Galatians 3:28 March 28
For as many of you as were baptized in to Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, neither is there make or
female for all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then
you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
“Heirs according to the promise” what a wonderful promise! This ought
to be the primary goal of our lives for this is God’s primary goal. The
desire of God’s heart is that you and I become heirs according to His
promises. This meets our need to day as well as for all of eternity.
This promise removes all barriers that we have in our world today. The
ethnic barriers come down for in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek.
God does not look at the color of our skin or the country where we were
born for in Christ Jesus we are all one.
Not only are the ethnic barriers brought down, but there are no
socio-economic barriers for there is neither “slave nor free” in Christ Jesus.
Rich and poor alike are all one in the Lord. God does not look at the
balance in our savings account when He looks to save us. God does not
really care about the amount on the check that we write on Sunday; if He
looks at all, He looks to see what the balance is in the account after
the check is written, for the Bible tells us that God loves a cheerful
giver! We are all mere paupers before God and all that we have belongs
to Him anyway!
Not only are there no ethnic or socio-economic barriers, there are no
gender barriers either for there is neither male nor female in Christ
Jesus. God does not look at our gender when it comes to our salvation and
our worth in His eyes. We are all His children and we are all
infinitely valuable to Him no matter who we are or what we have accomplished,
good or bad! There is no one who is so good that he does not need the
Lord’s mercy and His grace not is there anyone who is so bad that God
cannot save him.
We are all “one in Christ Jesus.” Unity is a wonderful thing. Unity
brings us together and it draws others to us. Unity gives us a sense of
family. Unity is the product of love for one another. When we have unity
and there are no barriers between us, we will have union. However there
is a difference between unity and union. Union can exist without unity
but unity cannot exist without union. Let me explain.
Union exists when two cats are tied together at the tail but it would
be fair to say there would be little unity! We need to understand that
the real goal of the Lord in our lives is not that we come together, but
that we come together in love for one another because God has first
loved us and He has forgiven us and because of what He has done for us, we
can love and accept others as He sees them not as we see them. Let’s
strive to practice unity as opposed to union. There is a world out there
that is dying and headed for an eternity in Hell because we who are in
Christ Jesus are not willing to see others as Christ sees them. We need
to change that and we need to do it today.
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Mon, Mar 27th - 7:22AM
Look or Cross Over
Look Or Cross Over? Deuteronomy 3:27 March 27
Get you up onto the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and
northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with your eyes,
and you shall not go over this Jordan.
Moses has led the children of Israel for forty years. He calls the
people together to recount to them the things that have taken place in that
period of time. Moses reminds them of God’s promises to bring them into
the land that He promised them. He then reminds them of their sin as
they refused to follow Him because they did not trust Him to give them
what He had said that He would.
Joshua has gone in to the Promised Land and he has seen the land that
is was indeed “flowing with milk and honey” just as God had promised it
would be. Moses reminds Joshua that he has seen the land with his own
eyes. He tells Joshua that he must not fear the people who live there
and have built strong armies and reinforced cities. Moses tells him that
God will fight Israel’s battles and He will defeat their enemies.
Moses then tells the people how he had asked God to let him go into the
land to see it with his own eyes as well. He tells the people that God
was angered at him “for the people’s sakes” and because of that He
would allow Moses to see the land but not go in and that He did not want to
hear any more about the matter.
So, God told Moses to go up on top of Mount Pisgah and from there he
was to look all around, to the north, the south, the east and the west
and all that he saw, God would give to the children of Israel. However,
he was not to go into the land. God told Moses to charge Joshua and
encourage him because Joshua would lead the people to possess the land that
he saw.
God keeps His promises to us. However, our actions do play a part in
how God keeps those promises. God told Moses in Exodus 3, that He had
seen the affliction of His people and that He was going to do two things.
He said, I am going to deliver them from the afflictions of Pharaoh and
that He was going to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses part in that plan depended on his obedience and his determination
to walk with God.
Moses grew tired of the people’s grumbling and their complaining, which
is certainly understandable. Where Moses made his mistake was going to
God and basically saying, “God, how long do ‘we’ have to put up with
all this complaining?” Moses mad the mistake of thinking that he was
jointly responsible along with God for the well-being of the people. Moses
took credit for what God had been doing.
God used Moses to bring the people out of Egypt but He then used Joshua
to bring the people into the Promised Land. God allowed Moses to see
the land but He did not allow him to stand on it.
What will you and I allow God to do in our lives? Will we allow Him to
use us to bring people out or to bring them into the land of His
promises and provisions? Will we allow God to give us a full blessing or will
we allow Him to give us a glimpse of the blessings that He has in store
for us? God’s provisions and His plans are set; however it is up to us
as to how He will be able to share them with us. Will you hear God say,
“Look…” or “Cross Over...”?
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (5)
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Sun, Mar 26th - 8:12AM
God's Blessings For Us
God’s Blessings for Us Acts 3:26 March 26
Unto you first, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you
in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Pentecost has just take place. Peter and John went up to the temple to
pray as they were accustomed to doing. When they got there they met a
man begging for money and Peter told him to rise up and walk and he did.
Peter used this occasion to preach to the crowd about Jesus, whom the
Jews had crucified only a few short weeks earlier.
He concludes his message with our scripture text for today. God raised
up His Son Jesus to bless us. The whole purpose of His coming is to
bless us. How are we to be blessed? Peter tells us in verse 19; we are to
repent and be converted that our sins may be blotted out. Jesus gave
His life on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and mine. He died
in our place. Jesus died in our place so that you and I might be able to
live with Him in heaven but He also died in our place so that you and I
might be able to live with Him on this earth. Jesus does not want us to
die for Him; He wants us to live for Him and that is why He came. That
is why God raise Him from the dead so that He might bless us and that
blessing us, we might be a blessing to others.
Repentance is where God’s blessings begin but that is not where they
end. Look closely at our text. Peter tells us that God raised Jesus from
the dead to bless us “in turning us away from our sin.” Here is the key
to God’s blessings. God’s blessings come when you and I are willing to
turn from our sinful ways and turn to him and His ways for our lives.
This is the founding principle of the Bible. Faith is seen in obedience
to God’s Word. Faith is taking God at His Word in every aspect of our
lives. Faith is no compromise and no excuse; faith is believing that God
is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He
says He will do. Period. Faith is living our lives one decision at a
time knowing that God’s Word and His Way is the way for us to go.
When you and I are willing to turn from our iniquities and turn to the
Lord, we will be blessed. God will bless us. He will fight our battles
and He will bless us exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or
hope for. Peter tells us that this is why God raised Jesus from the dead.
Jesus is risen and we need to remind ourselves that because He lives we
too can live today and forever. When temptation rears its ugly head,
just remember that God has raised Jesus up to bless you and the only way
He can do that is for you to remain faithful to Him and to remain
faithful to His Word and not let sin have an occasion to rob you of God’s
blessing for your life!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Sat, Mar 25th - 7:14AM
Our God
Our God Jeremiah 3:25 March 25
We lie down in our shame and our confusion covers us for we have sinned
against the Lord our God. We and our fathers from our youth until this
day have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.
Israel had sinned against God. They had turned their backs against Him
and looked everywhere but to Him for salvation. Jeremiah wrote, “Truly
in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude
of mountains.” Isn’t it amazing how far we are willing to look for
salvation when our focus is not in Christ and then how narrow our focus is
when we look to Him?
We need to be willing to look at our lives as we are. We need to know
that “We lie down in our shame and our confusion covers us for we have
sinned against the Lord our God. We and our fathers from our youth until
this day have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” We need to be
reminded again and again that “truly in the Lord our God is our
salvation.”
I like the wording of this verse, that “we have not obeyed the voice of
the Lord ‘our God’.” Even though we lie down in our own shame as
sinners against the Lord ‘our God’, He is still our God. This is so amazing
that God could love me in spite of my sin and my continual condition of
shame because of that sin. God is the Lord “my God”. Paul tells us that
“even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God is there for us. The fact is, He is the Lord “our God” because we
were created so that He could be our God. Our existence itself is so
that He could be our God even though we are sinners. God wants us to know
that He is our salvation. He is more than capable of saving us and that
there is no other name in heaven or on the earth whereby men may be
saved.
I am and will be eternally grateful to the Lord for all that He has
done for me as He has been and continues to be the Lord “my God”. It does
not matter what you may have or may not have done, God loves you and He
is the Lord “our God” There is not a need that you have that He is not
aware of nor is there a situation that you or I will ever face that He
does not have the solution for. We need to learn to look to Him instead
of everywhere else and begin to walk in His statutes and His way so
that He can do for us what He so much wants to do.
God was trying to tell Israel in Jeremiah’s day that He wanted them to
look to Him because He was the Lord “their God”. He wants you and me to
look to Him because He is still the Lord “our God” and there is no
better relationship that we could find ourselves in that being called His!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (2)
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Fri, Mar 24th - 7:58AM
Sweet Sleep
Sweet Sleep Proverbs 3:24 March 24
When you lie down you shall not be afraid. Yes, you shall lie down and
your sleep shall be sweet.
The only thing that will defeat fear is faith. When we place our faith
in the Lord Jesus, we will be able to lie down and not be afraid and
God promises that our sleep will be sweet. There is no security that is
any sweeter than the security that is ours in the Lord Jesus. The
problem that a lot of us have is we go to bed trying to find the solution to
our problems on our own. We want to be masters of our own destiny. We
want to be in charge and we want to know exactly what is going to
happen, how it is going to happen and when. We do not like surprises and we
do not like not knowing how things are going to work themselves out.
When we go to bed trying to work out our own situations, we may find
rest difficult. It is difficult to try to go to sleep when our lives are
in disarray. However, when we leave our lives to the Lord, He is able
to give us rest and take care of the circumstances that surround our
lives. God is able to still the storms and calm the waves that can come up
around us.
There is no peace that is any better than the peace that is ours in the
Lord Jesus. When we leave our lives to His leadership and we learn to
walk with Him, we will find that our fears will begin to disappear and
our sleep will be sweeter.
I remember when I got saved, I realized that is was lost and that was
the worst feeling that I have ever known. I remember as a 10 year old
boy crying myself to sleep at night because I knew I was lost and I
wanted to be saved. This took place for several nights and then on Thursday
night, I remember laying down and I asked the Lord to forgive me of my
sin and to come into my heart and it was as if God reached down and
picked me up and pulled me close to his bosom and all I remember was going
to sleep in His arms. I have never gone to sleep since then not knowing
that He is mine and that I am His!
There is no sleep any sweeter than the sleep that is ours because we
have surrendered our lives to Jesus and we have made Him Lord and Master
of our lives!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Thu, Mar 23rd - 7:17AM
Great Faithfulness
Great Faithfulness Lamentations 3:23 March 23
“Great is Thy faithfulness.”
No discussion of God’s promises can be made without talking about His
faithfulness to His own Words. Promises are of no consequence if the one
giving those promises has no intention of following through with those
promises. In addition, one can have all of the good intentions in the
world and fail to have the recourses to carry out the promises and they
are of no consequence as well. God has both the intent and the ability
to keep His promises and more. “Great is His faithfulness!”
The truth is we can take God at His Word. We can take His Word and we
can build our lives upon His Word and His promises and know that what
God has said He will do, He will do! God is everything that He says He
is. He is a God of love. He loved so much that He sent His only begotten
Son that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have
everlasting life.
He is a God of mercy. Moment by moment God continues to show His mercy
as our world turns its back to Him yet He continues to let life go one
as in Him all life consists. His grace abounds as He continues to bless
us even though we do not deserve His blessings. He is a God who is
all-powerful. He holds the world in His balance and the sun and moon and
the stars and their very existence is controlled by Him and their orbits.
Each and every body relates to one another with gravitational forces
that keep the universe in tact. A single moon around Mars or Jupiter
could get out of orbit and cause complete and utter destruction for the
entire universe, as we know it.
Closer to home, God knows the number of hairs that are on our heads;
obviously some of us give Him less cause for alarm than others! He knows
when a sparrow falls to the ground. He knows each and every one of our
thoughts before we do! We can trust Him with our lives! God is
completely faithful to His Word because He is faithful to Himself as well as
His purpose for creating us in the first place!
God desires faith from us because He is faithful Himself. Here is how
the two complete each other. Faith is believing that God is everything
that He says He is. As God is faithful, He proves over and over again
that He is everything that He says He is. Faith not only believes that
God is everything that He says He is, but it believes that He will do
everything that He says He will do. God is faithful as He proves that He
is everything that He says He is and as He does everything that HE says
He will do. Here is where you and I come in and why our faith is so
important.
When does God proves His faithfulness? He is able to prove His
faithfulness to Who He and all that He has promised when we are faithful to Him
and we allow Him to do so! Our faith in Him gives opportunity to His
faithfulness to us! So when Paul wrote, “Without faith it is impossible
to please God” he was in effect saying our faithlessness affects God’s
faithfulness to Himself and to us, which He odes not like at all!
Fortunately for us, God is faithful to Himself and His Word even when we are
not, but His faithfulness is tied to our faith in Him and our
determination to be His children as we allow Him to be our God!
Great is Thy faithfulness! Thank You Father for Your great faithfulness
to each of us today and forever!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Wed, Mar 22nd - 7:44AM
Recieving God's Blessings
Receiving God’s Blessings I John 3:22 March 22
“Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments
and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
What do you expect from God? Do you expect Him to hear your prayers and
answer your requests? Do you know that God hears your prayers and He
knows your situation and your needs? Do you know that God cares about
your need and as John as laid out for us in the scripture, “Whatsoever we
ask, we receive of Him”? Have you asked God for things that He has not
given to you?
We all have. There are two comments that I will make concerning this
passage. First of all, God will never give us everything that we ask for.
I am personally convinced that when we pray and ask for things the Holy
Spirit steps in and on our behalf goes to the throne with requests on
our behalf. Listen to Paul in Romans chapter 8, “26 Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for
as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. 27And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for
the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.”
God blesses us according to His Will and good pleasure and according to
His promises. He is committed to our best interest and sometimes that
means that we have to endure difficulty so that He can bless us in His
due time. This is difficult for us to understand but not difficult for
us to live with. The key to life is found not in receiving our requests
as we might think, but rather in the second part of this instructional
verse. John writes, “because we keep His commandments and do those
things that are pleasing in His sight.”
Here is the key to understanding life from God’s perspective. We are to
come to God with our needs and our requests and know that we will
receive from God with respect to that request. The key however, is in our
obedience to God’s Word without respect to the status of our requests!
God wants us to trust Him first and He wants us to trust Him in our
requests. He wants us to trust Him to the point that whatever He decides to
do is right and just and is His best. We have to remember that God has
eternity in mind in all that He does and He also has others in mind as
well.
Right now, there are sisters and brothers who are part of our
devotional family who are struggling with a number of issues in their lives.
Some are dealing with the loss of loved ones and even some are facing that
issue at this very moment. Others are dealing with difficulties in
relationships with spouses and with rebellious children. Some are facing
serious financial difficulties. Where is God in all of these difficult
situations? Does God really care? Is He really there? Does He really hear
our prayers?
Yes He does. He knows what is going on in your life and He is working
in those situations and He wants us to hold onto His hand and keep on
trusting Him and keep on serving Him and loving Him and He will prove His
love and His provisions in HIS power in your life.
God will keep His promises. We need to do our part, no matter how tough
the stand, we need to remember that He loves us and His grace is
sufficient in all things and in all circumstances all of the time.
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Tue, Mar 21st - 10:52AM
Perfect Salvation
Perfect Salvation Philippians 3:21 March 21
The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able to subdue all things unto Himself.
For the child of God, the day will come when Jesus will come again and
we shall see Him and we shall be like Him, as perfectly holy as He is
Holy. When we leave this life, our corruption shall take on incorruption
and we shall be like He is forever.
We need to know that it is Jesus who shall change us. He will take our
sin sick, vile body and fashion it into His glorious body. It is the
finished work at Calvary that touches our hearts and changes our lives
and finally transforms us. As we learn to walk with Him here in this
life, that walk leads us to Him and His presence and His power are able to
subdue us unto Himself. We cannot make those changes for ourselves. It
is Jesus who will do that for us.
Jesus died for us so that we could live for Him. He died in our place
so that we could live with Him. In order to live with Him, we have to
learn to live for Him. This is the process of sanctification, being
transformed into the express image of the Lord Jesus, one decision at a
time. As we surrender our lives to Him, we find His presence available to
us and His power available for us. The desire of God’s heart is that we
be just like Jesus. To accomplish that in our hearts and in our lives,
God has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts to guide our lives.
As we read the Word and listen to the Spirit, we receive direction that
will lead us and guide us to be more like Jesus. As we surrender to
that Word, our decisions move us in the direction that the Lord would have
us go and then the day comes when we leave this world and we move into
that world that is to come and we take on this new “Holiness” that is
ours in Christ Jesus. He is the culmination of all that takes place in
this life. All of the heartache will be turned into victory. All of the
sickness and the pain will be turned into joy. All of the sorrow will
be replaced by rejoicing.
When we see Jesus, we will be delivered from the defeating influence of
the world and the influence of the prince of this world. We will be
changed forever as well as forever changed. Our position guarantees our
perfection! Our practice is progressive as we seek to be what we are
supposed to be and one day will be! Somehow, the process that we take to
the final stage is a process worth investing in because the path that we
take has a lot to do with how we finish! We should want to be like Paul
as he said, “I have fought a good fight and I have finished the
course.” May we too hear the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant,
enter into the joy of the Lord which has been prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.”
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Mon, Mar 20th - 7:46AM
More Than I Could Hope For
More Than I Could Hope For Ephesians 3:20 March 20
Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we
could ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Here is one of my favorite promises in the Bible. Paul is praising God
who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or (hope
for) think. I like the phrase “hope for” because that is what we think.
When we surrender our lives to the Lord by following His Word in each
and every decision that we make, God is then able to do for us as only
He can do. When we come into His presence, we are going to experience
His power. When God works in our lives, our lives are going to reflect
His glory!
You and I live our lives doing a lot of things to satisfy the desire
that lies deep within our being. The truth is, God created us with this
innate desire to “live our lives to their fullest.” If this is our
desire and that desire was given to us by God, then why does it cause us so
much difficulty?
God gave us this desire so that He could be the One to fill it. God is
the One who is able to do for us exceedingly abundantly more than we
can ask or hope for. He is the giver and sustainer of life. God created
you and me for one reason and that reason is so that we could be outlets
for His love. God’s ;pve is a giving love and in order for God to give,
He needs an outlet for that giving.
When God created us, He gave us this nature to thirst for life. In
order for us to experience His giving love as He wants us to experience it,
He had to give us the choice as to where we find the source of life to
satisfy that longing that is deep with in us. When we look to the world
and the things of the world, we will not find the life that He has
planned for us. We experience the life that He desires for us as we
surrender our hearts to Him and we surrender our wills to His will and we
follow Him in the decisions that we make. Notice Paul tells us that it is
God’s power that works in us that gives us the life that He so much
wants us to have.
When God is present in our lives, so is His power! And when His power
is present, so are His provisions and those provisions are what blesses
us exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or hope for. God wants
us to let the desires of His heart fill the desires of our heart. When
we surrender our lives to Him and we allow His Word and His Spirit to
direct our lives one decision at a time, He is able to do for us what we
cannot do for ourselves and there is nothing that can begin to compare
with the life that He wants to give to us.
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Sun, Mar 19th - 9:05AM
Chastisement
Chastisement Revelation 3:19 March 19
As many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and
repent.
When we think about God’s promises, we do not really relish promises
like the one in today’s devotional. There are those who seem to think of
God’s love for us and they have a hard time accepting God’s
chastisement. Jesus Himself says He will chastise those that He loves. This is not
one of the apostles or Paul simply making a statement, although that
would be enough. Jesus is speaking here and we need to accept this
passage and we need to take His words to heart.
If we are not experiencing God’s chastening hand, then we had better
take a good look at our relationship with the Lord. Jesus does not say, I
will chasten those I love when they need it…. He knows we will all need
it, some of us more than others. God does not punish us to satisfy
Himself. There is a purpose for His chastisement and that purpose is so
that He can open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings on us.
He tells us that our response to His chastisement is simple; repent and
do it immediately! When we repent, we look to Him and that is all that
God wants from us. When we sin, we take our eyes off of the Lord and
put them on the world or we focus on our own desires. When we sin, we
begin to do what seems right in our own eyes and we fail to take God’s
Word and the direction that it gives to heart.
Sin is turning away from God and His perfect will and way for our
lives. Sin keeps God from blessing us as He wants to do because we have
chosen no ignore His power and His provisions for our lives. When we
repent, we are saying, “ God I was wrong and I want Your forgiveness and Your
way in my life.” Then God can begin to be God in our lives and He can
make the difference that He wants to make in our lives.
Rejoice today that Jesus assures us, “ as many as I love I rebuke and
chasten; be zealous therefore and repent.”
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (2)
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Sat, Mar 18th - 7:43AM
Look at the Mirror
Look at the Mirror II Corinthians 3:18 March 18
The Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord.
Paul tells the Christians at Corinth, “As we have borne the image of
the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (I
Corinthians 15:49) We as Christians ought to be able to look at our lives and the
decisions that we make and the things that we do and see evidence of
the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. Jesus left the throne of Heaven to
take on the likeness of man so that we would be able to take on His
image.
You and I are to reflect the image of the Lord in our lives. However,
we are not to do it on our own. We are changed by the work of the Holy
Spirit in our lives as we surrender our wills to His will. God has given
us every opportunity to walk in His ways and as we do, we take on more
and more of His glory.
What does this glory look like? What is that we are supposed to see
when we look into this mirror that Paul is talking about here? Understand
something. When we look into a mirror, we see ourselves as we are. A
lot of people work on being something in front of others. We work hard at
trying to fix ourselves up before the world but here Paul is saying
that our own self-examination is what we need to see.
We need to begin to see ourselves in our decisions. This is the most
important aspect of our lives. Our lives are the result of the decisions
that we make. We are in the place that we are in today because of the
decisions that we have already made. So, as we look at ourselves, we see
the result of the decisions that we have made. The key to life is not
looking a the results but rather looking at the process that brings us
to the place that we are at.
For example, a bathroom scale tells us how good the decisions that we
have made have been where our weight is concerned. We can continue to
step on that scale and we will no doubt see change. If we want to have
something to do with which direction that change goes, we have to make a
change in the decisions that we make. Christ came to help us make a
difference in those decisions.
We cannot make the decisions that we need to make on our own either.
There are a lot of people who make the very dangerous mistake of trying
to do things on their own. Some of the books on “Self-Help” that tell us
that we can do anything that we want to do are as damaging as they can
possibly be. We are masters of our own destiny in some ways but the
question that we need to consider is which direction are we headed? We
need the input of the Holy Spirit that is a gift from God Himself to help
us reflect His glory as we allow Him to make a difference in who we are
and the things that we do.
Take a good look at that mirror and ask yourself if the decisions that
you have made today have allowed you to reflect God’s glory or your
own. God will assist you in that look if you will just allow Him to do so!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Fri, Mar 17th - 7:29AM
God Will Deliver Us
Our God Will Deliver Us Daniel 3:17 March 17
If it be so our God who we serve is able to deliver us form the fiery
furnace and He will deliver us out of your hand, oh king.
Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego were the three Hebrew children who were
cast into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down and
worship another God. Nebuchadnezzar was king and he was actually manipulated
into issuing the edict that would put these three men’s lives in
jeopardy. The Chaldean rulers knew that the Jewish men would not bow down and
worship the image of the king and when the time came for everyone to
bow down, they waited for the three Hebrew children to refuse to do so
and they ran straight to the king to report them to him.
Nebchadnezzar called the three into his chambers and offered them an
opportunity to bow down in private but they refused to do so.
Nebchadnezzar warned them that if they refused to do what he told them to do, they
would be cast into the fiery furnace. Their reply is one of my favorite
statements in all of the Bible made by someone other than the Lord.
They told the king, “If it be so our God who we serve is able to deliver
us form the fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of your hand, oh
king. “ They went on in verse 18 to say, but if not, be it known unto
you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden
image that you have set up.”
Basically, these three men said, “We would rather burn than bow.” The
three men trusted God and knew that God could deliver them from anything
that they would face. However, if God chose not to deliver them, they
would stand with Him and for Him and they would not bow down before
another god.
These men were very intelligent individuals. I am sure the thought came
to them, “We need to do something because our stand will not do us or
anyone else any good if we are dead.” Compromise is such an easy thing
to do when it comes to making decisions. However, compromise allows us
to do what seems right in our own eyes. God does not need compromise
because He knows what is best in every situation. God wants us to take Him
at His Word no matter what the circumstances or the situation may be.
Had these three not taken the determined stand that they took, we would
not know anything about the dynamic deliverance that they experienced!
Had they not been cast into the fiery furnace, we would have never been
able to see the fourth man walking about in the fiery furnace with
them! We need to determine in our hearts and in our minds to walk with God
with the same resolve that these three men had and be willing to say
with them, “If it be so our God who we serve is able to deliver us from
the fiery furnace that we may have to face and if He does not deliver
us, we will not bow down and worship any other god.” God cannot deliver
us if we do not go where His dynamic deliverance can be experienced!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Thu, Mar 16th - 7:29AM
Thoroughly Furnished
Thoroughly Furnished II Timothy 3:16 March 16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;
that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
The Bible not only contains a number of promises from God to us, the
Word of God itself is a promise from God to us. All scripture is given by
inspiration of God to us. The Bible is not the work of men but solely
the work of God to us and for us. The Bible is given to us so that we
can know who God is and what He wants to do in and with our lives.
The Bible is profitable to us in a number of ways. First of all, it is
profitable for doctrine or teaching. When we take the Bible and let it
direct our paths, then we are going to find life and find it more
abundantly. It is impossible to get where we need to be when we are headed
in the wrong direction. The Bible leads us and guides us in the right
direction and that benefits us in a couple of ways. First of all, when we
are headed in the right direction, we will find God’s blessings and
then we will avoid a lot of the pitfalls that the world can throw at us.
The Bible is profitable for reproof and correction. The Bible helps us
to examine ourselves and see the error of our ways because it sets a
standard in front of us in the person of Jesus that is consistent and
steadfast. He is our rock and our fortress and He will never fail us and
we can trust in Him and we can aspire to be like Him. The Bible has a
correcting aspect to it for one reason; God wants to take us from where
we are to the place that He wants us to be. He wants to turn us around
and head us in the right direction and it is all for our benefit! The
benefit that God gets from it all is blessing us.
The Bible is profitable for instruction in righteousness. God wants us
to be able to stand before Him justified and to do that He sent His Son
to pay the penalty for our sin. All we need to do is to accept that
free pardon for our sin and ask Jesus to forgive our sin and come into our
heart and be our Savior and Lord. When we have done that, the Word of
God directs us and teaches us who God is and what He has promised to do
for us so that our faith might be made perfect in our lives. As we
exercise that faith in the decisions that we make, our righteousness is
perfected and God is able to be God in our lives and He is glorified in us
and others are able to see Him through us.
The goal that God has set forth for His Word is that the man of God may
be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. God wants us to prosper
and to benefit from His blessings. He wants our lives to be filled to
overflowing, full of His grace and His glory. He wants every moment that
we live to be its absolute best. When we take His Word and His
instruction to heart, He takes our heart and makes something wonderful out of it
and He gives us life and the good works that He promises us are His and
not ours and that makes life really worth the living!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Wed, Mar 15th - 10:46AM
The Lord Will Deliver
The Lord Will Deliver Us Judges 3:15 March 15
But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised
them up a deliverer.
Israel was a rebellious nation for much of its history. In verse 12, we
read, “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord
AGAIN and the Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab against Israel
because the had done evil in the sight of the Lord.” The Bible goes on to
say that Israel was under the rule of Moab for another 18 years. But
when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, He raised them up a
deliverer.
A person would think that at some point Israel would have learned that
trusting God was the best option that they had. Just look at all the
things that God did for them in their history! Time and time again,
Israel sinned against God and God heard their cries and He forgave their sin
and He delivered them from their bondage and affliction and their
oppression. Unfortunately, the children of Israel never broke that cycle but
neither did the Lord. In fact, even while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us! When man was at his worst, Jesus died for us on the cross
so that we could live with Him in Heaven!
There are two thoughts that I want us to leave this devotional with.
First of all, just as He did for the children of Israel, God has done so
much for you and me. He has given us life and He continues to sustain
that life. The purpose of the life that we have been given is to bring
glory to God as we surrender our wills to His will and we make His way
our way. God wants to fight our battles and He wants to deliver us from
our sinful ways so that He can give us life that is rich and full and
abundant. God’s love is only as good and effective as we allow it to
make a difference in our lives!
The second thing that we need to remember is this, no matter how many
mistakes we have made, God will hear our cry for forgiveness and He will
deliver us from our sin and our sinful ways as we determine in our
hearts, with His help to walk in His ways according to the dictates of His
Word. God does not have to send us a deliverer like He did for the
children of Israel in our text for today. He took care of that once and for
all at Calvary. God will forever do all that He can to take us from
where we are and move us to the place that He would have us be.
We need to be reminded over and over again of all the things that God
has done for us so that He can continue to do the things that He so much
wants to do for us. God wants our lives to be filled with His goodness
and He wants us to be blessed exceedingly abundantly more than we can
ask or even hope for. He has the ability as well as the desire to make
our lives that rich and full if we will just trust Him enough in faith
through obedience to His Word without compromise. God will hear our
cries and He will deliver us if we will just let Him do so!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Tue, Mar 14th - 7:20AM
I Am Who I Am
I Am Who I Am Genesis 3:14 March 14
“And God said to Moses, ‘I am Who I Am.’ Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’”
Here we find a very special promise contained in this event in the life
of Moses and the children of Israel. God has identified Himself to
Moses in a name that defines Who He is as well as What He is going to do.
God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel, “I Am has sent me to
you.” In His name is the guarantee of His promises and all that He is and
all that He plans to do in and with the children of Israel as well as
the whole world.
Faith itself is founded in God! Faith is believing that God is
everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He
will do. That entire definition can be summed up in the Name God has
identified Himself as, “I am Who I am.” God is saying to Moses, “I am
everything that I say I am and I will do everything that I say I will do.”
God is often referred to as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”,
which is a reference to the God who made the promises to Israel to make
them a mighty nation and to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.
Here God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel who are in
captivity and in bondage in Egypt, that He has seen their afflictions and He
has heard their cries and He has sent Moses to deliver them from the hand
of Pharaoh. In verse 18 God tells Moses, “then they will heed your
voice.” The people will know that it is the God of their forefathers who
has come to intervene in their lives and is keeping His promise that He
made to their forefathers.
God’s nature and purpose is a wrapped up in the name that He identifies
Himself with. He is everything that He says He is and He certainly will
do everything that He says He will do. He encouraged Moses to stand
with Him with this name and He wants us to be encouraged as well and to
make a stand and live for Him as we make decisions on a day-by-day basis.
He wants to be God in our hearts and in our lives so that He can fight
our battles and meet our needs and give us life that is filled to
overflowing. He wants our lives to be filled with “milk and honey” and His
desire is that we be abundantly blessed by all that He is and all that
He wants to do in us and with us and for us and through us! God wants to
bless us and He wants us to be blessing to Him as well as the rest of
the world!
God wants us to know that “I Am Who I Am” is here with us today and He
wants to be God in our lives and He wants us to be His children!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Mon, Mar 13th - 8:09AM
Acknowledge Our Sin
Acknowledge Our Sin Jeremiah 3:13 March 13
Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the
Lord your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every
green tree and you have not obeyed My voice says the Lord.
God told Jeremiah that Israel had justified their sinful ways more than
Judah had done. He told Jeremiah to go to the people of Israel and tell
them to return or repent so that He would not have to send His judgment
upon them. God said, “I am a merciful God and I will not keep My anger
forever.”
Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the
Lord your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every
green tree and you have not obeyed My voice says the Lord.
God has not changed. The desire of His heart is to “give us pastors who
shall feed us with knowledge and understanding.” God wants us to know
Him and the power that comes with our knowing Him and walking with Him.
There is a difference in knowing who God is and knowing Him on a
personal, daily walk. I know my wife. I know a lot about her. I can listen to
what her friends say and how they react to her being around them.
However, this is not what she wants from our relationship. She wants me to
“know her” on a personal level and to walk with her and to be there for
her on a moment by moment basis.
God wants the same thing from you and me. God does not like it when we
sin. He has made provisions to help us tp rectify that problem. God
wants us to come to Him and admit our sin that we have transgressed His
Law. Acknowledging our sin is the first step to being forgiven!
Notice what God said about Israel, “They had justified their sinful
ways.” We have this way of doing much the same thing. We want to justify
our ways and our actions even when we know that what we are wanting to
do is not the things that we need to do. When we acknowledge our sin or
iniquity before the Lord, He is able to forgive us but He is also able
to help us stand against the temptation that can so easily lead us
astray.
Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the
Lord your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every
green tree and you have not obeyed My voice says the Lord. God is a
merciful God and His desire is that you and I keep His ways in the
forefront of our minds and our thoughts so that He can do for us all the
things that we cannot begin to do for ourselves!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (1)
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Sun, Mar 12th - 8:55AM
Boldness And Confidence
Boldness and Confidence Ephesians 3:12 March 12
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by our faith in
Him.
Paul’s desire was that the church would come to know the unsearchable
riches of Christ and the manifold wisdom of God, which God had purposed
in His heart before the foundation of the world and was the purpose
that Jesus came in to this world and went to the cross. This knowledge
would give the church holy boldness to come before the Lord and to seek
access with confidence that the Lord would hear our prayer and He would
respond to our prayer. This confidence would not rest in what we could
do for ourselves but rather would rest in what Jesus could and would do
for us.
You see there is a big difference in trusting in what Jesus “can” do
for us and trusting in what He “will” do for us. I I know a lot of people
who believe that God can take care of the circumstances and situations
that they find themselves in but they have a difficult time turning
loose of those situations and trusting Him to do something for them. Paul
assures us that we can come to God in boldness and complete confidence
by our faith in the Lord Jesus.
The key to the power of the gospel is found in that last phrase, “by
our faith in Him.” Our faith in the Lord is the key to experiencing real
victory in our lives. This faith is the result of our coming to
understanding the wisdom of God that is revealed in the Word of God and
demonstrated in the life of the Lord Himself. As you and I look to the Word
of God and we begin to rest on the promises that are contained there, we
come to know that we can trust God and our faith is then strengthened
and our resolve should be strengthened to walk even closer to the Lord.
As you and I trust God and we walk with Him in the light of His Word
and not according to the desires of our own heart and what seems right in
our own minds, our boldness increases and our confidence that God is in
control and He will hear our prayer and He will answer that prayer and
He will do what is best for us according to His manifold wisdom as He
leads us from where we are to the place that He so much wants us to be.
God is a great God and the purpose of His heart is to be our God and
that means that He will do anything heavenly possible to do for us what
only He can do. He wants us to learn that we can trust Him and that we
can come to Him in complete confidence and absolute assurance that He
will do all that He can do for our benefit and our blessing.
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
Comment (0)
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Sat, Mar 11th - 8:08AM
God Is At Work I Samuel 3:11 March 11
And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold I will do a thing in Israel at
which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle.
Samuel was a young child and he served Eli who was a judge and high
priest in Israel. Eli was a just man but his sons sinned against God as
they took advantage of their position as priests in Samuel’s court. God
was very displeased at Eli because of how his sons acted in that
position. He had told Eli that He was displeased with how he had raised his
sons and that the day would come when He would remove Eli and his sons
from their position.
Samuel has found favor with the Lord and God spoke to the young child
and Samuel thought that it was Eli that called out to him and so he
would go to Eli to find out what it was that he wanted. Eli realized that
it was God who had called out the young lad’s name. He told Samuel to go
lie back down and if he heard someone call out his name again, he was
to say, “Speak for your servant hears.”
When the Lord called out again, Samuel asked the Lord to speak and
God’s response to him was, “Behold I will do a thing in Israel at which
both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle.” God went on to
tell Samuel that He would remove the house of Eli and everyone would know
that it was God that had done it. When the morning came, Eli told
Samuel to tell him what the Lord had told him and he told Samuel, May the
Lord do the same thing to you if you do not tell me what He said.” Eli
knew that his time had come.
The thought that I want us to focus on today is this, “When God moves
and He does something, the ‘ears of everyone’ shall tingle.” God had
warned Eli and He gave Eli a number of opportunities to correct the
problem Notice, God told Samuel that “Eli’s house would not be purged with
sacrifices and offerings forever.” God’s patience can even be seen in His
judgment. God was about to act.
God will act. The choice that you and I have will determine just how
God acts with respect to our lives. When God convicts us of our sin, we
need to take His Word serious and we need to make changes in our lives
that reflect His will and His way in our decisions. Then God is able to
act in love and mercy and our lives benefit from His goodness and His
presence and power in our lives. If we do not conform, then He still
acts; however, His actions come in judgment and in wrath and you and I do
not want to experience with of those as Eli and the whole world of his
day was about to witness.
God is in control and He is going to act and people are going to see
what the Lord is going to do. the challenge that is before you and me is
to be in Samuel’s position to see the power of God at work as opposed
to being in Eli’s position and the recipient of God’s work.
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
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Fri, Mar 10th - 8:04AM
That I May Know Him
That I May Know Him Philippians 3:10 March 10
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.
Paul tells the church at Philippi, “I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may know
Him.” More than anything else in the whole world, Paul wanted to know
Jesus in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
suffering. Paul was willing to suffer for one reason; he wanted to be found
faithful and to finish the course that had been set before him and nothing
was going to keep him from finishing the race for Jesus’ sake.
The truth is we cannot know Jesus aside from the power of the
resurrection. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that gives His whole its
meaning and its significance. It is the news of the resurrection that
brought the disciples back from their homes that they had gone to when
Jesus was crucified. When Jesus bowed His head and cried out, “It is
finished” that is exactly how the disciples all felt. When Jesus died so did
all of the dreams that the disciples had die with Him. However, when
the news that Jesus was alive and not dead got to them, they all received
new life themselves and they came to see Him.
It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came down and moved into their
hearts and the world was forever changed by the power of the
resurrected Christ. This power that they received was a power that would help
them and even cause them to be able to endure various sufferings for the
advancement of the gospel. Paul Himself had met the resurrected Lord on
the road to Damascus and as he surrendered His life to this risen Lord,
he came to know the fellowship of the Lord’s sufferings. Paul came to
know what it meant to “take up his cross and follow Jesus.”
If you and I are to know Jesus, we must be willing to come to Him in
the power of His resurrection as it is revealed to us in His Word. We
cannot know Him as we want Him to be. We must come to Know Him as He has
revealed Himself to us and as we discover Him as we walk with Him in
obedience to what He has written to us in His Word. This obedience may
well cost us a great deal. Certainly it will cost us as we surrender our
own wills to do His will in our every day walk.
However, as we begin to take a stand for Him in our homes and in our
workplace, we will find that people around us will want to avoid us and
they may criticize us and our determination to walk with the Lord may
even cost us dearly. However, to come to know the Lord in the power of
His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings will give our lives
a peace and a quality of joy that we cannot begin to experience any
other way. Paul knew this fellowship and you and I can know it as well if
we will just determine in our hearts to “know Him” at all cost!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
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Thu, Mar 9th - 7:28AM
God Cannot Lie
God Cannot Lie II Peter 3:9 March 9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promises.”
One of the attributes that is ascribed to God is that of truth. In all
that God is and all that He has promised and assured, we can know that
He is obligated to Himself as well as us that He will perform all that
He has said He will do. As His character is revealed in the Bible, one
thing is absolutely clear and that is that God cannot lie. He is
trustworthy from beginning to end and His truth will remain.
You can go to the Bible and you will not find one time where God has
failed to keep His promises. You can go to history and you will not find
one time when man has recorded that the promises of God have not been
fulfilled. Someone has said, “One lie can cloud a thousand truths.” God
is and has always been true to Himself and he always will be. As He is
true to Himself, He will be true to each of those who love Him and are
called by His name. We can rest in His Word. We can find comfort in His
Word. We can find strength in His Word and we can find direction in His
Word.
One of the things that we have to remind ourselves from time to time is
the fact that God never had to make the promises that He made in the
first place if He did not intend for them to be there for us to base our
lives on. God could have simply said, “I am the Lord, God Almighty and
I will do what I will do. You need to fear Me and walk in My statues or
suffer the consequences.” He did not have to send His Son to die on the
cross. He did not have to promise us abundant life in His Son Jesus. He
did not have to promise us eternal life with Him in Heaven.
However, because all of those things were important to Him, He wanted
to share those promises with us so that we would have His Word to build
our lives and our eternity on, He gave us so many promises in the
Bible! When we remember that God created us for His own good pleasure as
outlets for His great love for us, then we can certainly understand why He
would make so many promises to us. In the creation, God desired to
create man and through his freewill, he would allow God to be God in his
life. The desire of God’s heart is to meet our need, fill our lack and
give us life that is abundant and full. All of the promises that He gives
to us in His precious Word are there to assure us that all the things
that God has promised us, He will fulfill.
God is not slack concerning His promises. If anything is true, it is
the fact that God has so much more in store for us than what He has
promised us if we will but walk with Him and delight in His Law and allow
Him to do for us all that He so much wants to do to His glory and His
honor and our benefit!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
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Wed, Mar 8th - 7:35AM
An Open Door
An Open Door Revelation 3:8 March 8
8“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no
one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and
have not denied My name. 9“Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of
Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make
them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved
you. 10“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep
you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth. 11“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast
what you have, that no one may take your crown.
What a city name, “city of brotherly love” for the gospel to flourish!
The city had its name long before the good news of Jesus Christ came to
them but this was a city where people loved one another and treated one
another as they themselves wants to be treated. It was a natural place
for the gospel to flourish!
In all of the other churches so far, Jesus commented on their strengths
but had words of warning for them. Here, Jesus has no words of
condemnation or warning. Was this church perfect, No. However, when a church or
a community practices love, it covers a multitude of faults and
failures!
Jesus tells the church at Philadelphia that He has set before them an
open door, which no one can shut. He tells them that He knows that they
have kept His Word and have not denied His name. Jesus promised His
open door of blessings for their lives! No one can keep God’s joy and
peace out of our hearts. When we walk with him and keep His commandments
and we delight in His Word, He opens doors to us that no one can shut! As
His blessings come upon us, others will know that God is with us and
that He has loved us! Our testimony will touch men’s hearts when we walk
with the Lord and God is able to be God in our lives!
He goes on to tell the church that because they have kept His
commandments and have persevered, that He would “keep them from the hour of
trail which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the
earth. The church here represents the church just before the end of the
world when Jesus will come to take His church out of this world before
the Great Tribulation that is coming. Before that hour comes, Jesus
promises the church, 11“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you
have, that no one may take your crown.”
Jesus is coming again and we who are called by His Name and have kept
His commandments and have held fast to His promises, will see Him and be
taken up in the twinkling of an eye to be with Him forever and ever in
heaven! What a glorious day that will be! We too have an open door of
opportunity to share this glorious truth with those around us. All we
have to do is keep His Word and not deny Him so that our testimony will
be effective and His Spirit will find liberty to touch the lives of
those around us!
.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you."
><> Bob <><
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Tue, Mar 7th - 6:13AM
Justified By His Grace
Justified By His Grace Titus 3:7 March 7
that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Paul describes our life before coming to Christ, as being an individual that is foolish, disobedient, and deceived. We serve different lusts and pleasures and live in malice and envy and we are hateful and hate one another. “But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior appears to us.” We come to God because God has reached out to us. We can become one of His because He has loved us with an everlasting love and because of His great love for us, He has reached out to us to bring us into His forever family by the wonder of His grace.
His love for us is seen in His Son Jesus Christ and what He did for us at Calvary. We are “justified by His grace.” What does it mean to be justified? To be justified is to be declared free from the guilt and exposure to punishment for what we have done wrong. As saved sinners, we have been set free from the penalty of our sin and as such, we have been declared righteous before God because we have been covered by the finished substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.
Our justification is made available to us the very moment Jesus is made our substitute to pay the penalty for our sin. As we stand before God, we are perfect before the Law because the penalty for our sin has been paid in full and we stand before God as if we had never broken the Law.
How can we be justified before God? Paul answers that question as well when he says, “God is just and the justifier of him who believes in Christ.” (Romans 3:26) We are condemned by the Law but we have been pardoned by the Giver of the Law because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. God punished His Son for my sin. When Jesus took my sin upon Himself, and He gave His life for me, and when I took His Word to heart, believing that He is everything that He says He is and that He will do everything that He says He will do for me, His righteousness was given to me and His justification became my justification and I became an heir to God and a joint heir with Jesus and my hope is in Him for all eternity!
May the Lord bless you exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or hope for!
To receive these devotionals by email absolutely free, go to www.sbgm.org/subscribe.htm
><> Bob
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Mon, Mar 6th - 9:53AM
Direct Our Paths
Direct Our Paths Proverbs 3:6 March 6
In all of your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
God is a great and loving God. He wants us to acknowledge Him not because He is God; He wants us to acknowledge Him so that He can direct our paths! God does not need our obedience because He is God; He wants our obedience so that He can bless us as He directs our paths for His glory. My obedience to God is not for His benefit at all; my obedience to God and His Word and His direction is for my benefit.
God promises us that when we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our paths. This really is as simple as black words on white paper. You and I have the unique ability to acknowledge God in all of our ways if we will but do it. It is not really that difficult either. The hardest part is simply making the commitment to do it and then sticking to it.
In all of your ways, Solomon writes, acknowledge Him. This does not mean that we can be obedient to God’s Word when it is convenient for us to do so and God is obligated to direct our paths and bless us. God does not grade on a curve. Our decisions effect God’s ability to lead us and direct our paths. God in His sovereignty has chosen not to be sovereign in the daily administration of our lives. What this means is this; God can direct our lives as He chooses but His choices are related to our choices. As you and I choose God’s way over our own way, He is able to then direct our paths and make a difference in who we are and what we do.
When we choose to go our own way and not acknowledge God in all of our ways or even in some of our ways, God is then limited by our decisions as to how much He will direct our paths and bless us. Fortunately for us all, God sometimes overlooks our faults and our failures and He direct our paths in spite of our disobedience, but He is not obligated to do so.
However, when we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, He will direct our paths and He will bless us and He will make our lives worth living and we will be blessed and we will be a blessing to others. This is God’s goal for our lives and it ought to be our goal as well.
May the Lord bless you exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or hope for!
To receive these devotionals by email absolutely free, go to www.sbgm.org/subscribe.htm
><> Bob
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Sun, Mar 5th - 8:15AM
Born of the Spirit
Born of the Spirit John 3:5 March 5
Jesus answered, “Verily, verily I say to you, unless a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
A man named Nicodemus came to Jesus and asked Him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered him saying, “Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus questioned the Lord farther, asking, “How can I enter again into my mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus answered, “Verily, verily I say to you, unless a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
It is important for us to make sure that we do whatever it takes to inherit eternal life. Nicodemus came to Jesus for the answers that he needed. You and I need to make sure that we do the same thing. The problem that I see in our world today is there are a lot of people doing a lot of wonderful things to inherit eternal life. However, they are looking to their commitment to do good thing. Too many people are looking at their church membership or their monetary giving to get them into heaven. There are even a few that think their teaching Sunday School and even preaching will get them to heaven.
Jesus is crystal clear in His answer to Nicodemus. Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What did Jesus mean when He said, “born of water and of Spirit?” The answer is perhaps found in the next verse. Jesus says, “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is Spirit.” This explains what Jesus was saying as He referred to born of water and of spirit.
We are born of water physically and literally. An infant grows in its mother’s womb in embryonic fluid that surrounds the infant until birth. Not only that, but even as adults we are primarily water in our make up as physical beings. So, being born of water has to do with our physical birth. Being born of Spirit has to do with the second birth, which takes place when we give our hearts to the Lord as our Savior. This spiritual birth comes from the Lord and from Him alone. When He died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins and that is the only way that we will be able to see the kingdom of God.
This is why there is no other name on earth and in heaven that can save us. Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one can come unto the Father but by Him. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosever would believe in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life.
He who believe not in Him, is condemned already because He has not believed in the Name of the Only begotten Son of God.
We need to make sure that we come to Jesus and look to Him and for His instruction to inherit eternal life. We need to make sure that we do not make the mistake of doing what seems right in our own eyes.
. May the Lord bless you exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or hope for!
To receive these devotionals by email absolutely free, go to www.sbgm.org/subscribe.htm
><> Bob
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Sat, Mar 4th - 10:09PM
Here I am Lord
Here I Am Lord Exodus 3:4 March 4
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him in the midst of the burning bush and said, Moses, Moses and he said Here I am.
Imagine looking up to see a bush burning and the leaves and the branches were not being consumed. This would no doubt get your attention. This is exactly what Moses saw one day as he was out in the desert with a herd of sheep. As Moses looked at this spectacular event, he decided to take a closer look and when he got closer to the bush, the Lord called out to him from inside the bush.
There are a couple of things that stand out in my mind as I think about what is taking place here. First of all, God can and does use a variety of things to speak to us through. God is not limited by space or time and He is able to do things that can and will get our attention. God certainly got Moses’ attention and He will do the same for you and me as we turn to see. When we look to find the Lord, He will reveal Himself to us.
God spoke to Moses in an audible voice. Moses heard his name called out from the midst of the burning bush. God may not use our name as He did with Moses, but when He speaks to us, we will hear Him and we will know that it is God and we will know that He is speaking directly to us as if He did call our name out! All you and I have to do is respond to God’s initiative and look in His direction.
Moses responded to God’s call as He said, “Here I am.” There is no better response that you and I can make than the one that Moses made. You and I need to remember that God has our best interest at heart and when He calls us to do something, there is a reason and that reason fits in with God’s plan not only for our lives, but as in Moses’ case, for a whole nation. God can use you and He can use me to make a difference in the world where He has placed us.
The first step is to turn to see what it is that He is trying to do in our lives and then our response needs to be, “Lord, here I am.” As we look to His precious Word, God is able to speak to us and He is able to lead us and guide us through the application of His Word in our lives. As we turn to His Word, the Holy Spirit is able to use that Word to influence our decisions so that He can direct our lives. This is shy our response is so important. Until we say, “Lord, here I am,” then His Word has no effect on our lives and there is really very little that God can do to bless us and provide for us, much less use us for His plan and purpose.
. May God bless you exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or home for!
If you would like to receive these devotionals in your email early every morning, go to www.sbgm.org/subscribe.htm
><> Bob
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Name: Bob Hadley of Saved By Grace Ministries
